Ernesto Mercado donates his piece of Rosario land to the government

The Senate Hearing on the Makati City Hall Building 2 continued on Tuesday (November 18) and in a move fit for celluloid, former Makati City Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado donated his 4-hectare chunk of the controversial land in Batangas to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

DAR explained that they have to consult the law first before accepting the land. Mercado, with a veneer of graciousness, said that all he wants to is to make sure that the land goes to whoever benefits from it most. In jest, the Senators said that had the incumbent mayor of Makati been present during the hearing, he might’ve been the recipient of the land.

That joke aside, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said that this puts businessman Antonio "Tony" Tiu in a tight spot. Tiu has been claiming ownership of the 150-hectare property, a part of which Mercado has now voluntarily given to the government. Senator Cayetano said that if the contract he purportedly signed with Laureano Gregorio is truly valid, Tiu would have to nullify the agreement now that he will not be receiving the entire property.

The Binay camp remains a no-show during the senate hearing, which has been suspended indefinitely to give way to the budget hearings.